Dear fellow ralliers. 

A warm welcome to the East Kent Centre website. 

Thank you for granting me the honour of being your chairman for the forthcoming year and will endeavour to maintain the high standards set by our previous chairmen. 

With the support of my wife, Pearl and the rest of the centre officers and committee, I will continue to promote the centre and build on what we believe is a very successful family atmosphere and though the financial climate may be difficult at present, I am pleased to report that we are still continuing to thrive. 

Our website has full details regarding the rally programme with any amendments updated as soon as they are available. It is an excellent tool for letting you know what is happening in the centre, so if there is information you want to get out quickly, please email it to the webmaster, my thanks go to Kevin for maintaining our excellent website. 

Please support us in raising money for our nominated charity, the Thanet Disabled Riding Centre, which has been chosen as the adult and youth charity for 2010. 

The rally programme for 2010 has now been finalised and provides a wide variety of events, from quiet weekends to fully catered socials and I am sure that there is something there to suit all tastes. If you haven’t been on a rally before, why not join the centre and try one, you will be made most welcome. We also extend the hand of friendship to ralliers from other centre’s who visit us, some of whom return on a regular basis. 

Quite a few of our rallies tend to fill up very quickly, so please book early to avoid disappointment, this also helps in the planning of the rally, especially when catering is involved. 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the marshals and their assistants for volunteering to run rallies throughout the year for your enjoyment, please give them your support. 

The National rally is back at Weston Park in 2010, if you are planning to go, please give your support to our sports officer, Darren Burch by participating in the wide range of sporting events and enjoy the unique atmosphere of the rally. 

We will be holding our 44^th Birthday rally at Folkestone Girls School in June and our Dinner Dance at the Hop Farm in September, please come and support these important events in our calendar. 

I would like to wish our new Youth President, Hollie Burch and her council every success, the centre can certainly take pride in its youngsters. I believe that our vibrant Youth Section is one of the strengths of the centre. 

Best wishes to you all for the year and most importantly, enjoy your rallying. 

John